-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Rem Koolhaas revolutionizes city landscapes with distinctive and cutting-edge buildings .

Seattle 's Central Library is one of Rem Koolhaas ' recent builds .

Responsible for the iconic CCTV headquarters in Beijing the Dutch architect was named one of `` The World 's Most Influential People '' by Time magazine .

Similar to the man himself , his buildings are not afraid to make a statement .

`` We felt it was very important for an entity like CCTV to make its presence felt ... To generate a space and to define a space , that is the main thing , '' he told CNN at the opening of his `` Transformer '' building in Seoul , South Korea .

Koolhaas admits that the current economic climate is not particularly favorable to big and bold architectural plans , but from adversity comes creativity .

`` Definitely there were a number of projects that we worked on put on hold , but on the other hand certain things were also accelerated because the price of construction is getting so cheap . ''

Despite these new parameters he remains optimistic that his profession will continue to invent and be relevant , `` because it means kind of smaller , but more complex and kind of interesting things , kind of related to , not necessarily with commerce , but more connected to culture and to the social world . ''

His buildings have attracted worldwide fame and given Koolhaas himself a form of semi-celebrity status . Yet Koolhaas still feels a sense of unease being labeled a `` Starchitect . ''

`` I think it 's a name that is actually degrading to the vast majority of people it is applied to . And it really is a kind of political term that for certain clients is important because they use star architects . My hope is that through the current complexity that title will exit discretely and disappear , '' he said .

He believes that by being able to respond to different demands architecture is evolving into something new .

`` It is not possible to live in this age if you do n't have a sense of many contradictory forces , '' he said .

`` Each building has to be beautiful , but cheap and fast , but it lasts forever . That is already an incredible battery of seemingly contradictory demands . So yes , I 'm definitely perhaps contradictory person , but I operate in very contradictory times . ''

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Dutch architect is creative force behind landmark buildings across the world

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Beijing 's CCTV building and Seattle 's Central Library are two bold examples

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Koolhaas embraces contradictions in a project and creative-commercial tensions